The Writing Center

by Ruth Rogers ’07

When are APA citations supposed to include page numbers?

According to the APA guide (5th ed., pp. 120-121), when you are using a direct quote you need to provide the location in its original source of the text you are quoting.

If you are paraphrasing the content of a source publication, you’re not required to include the location. However, you are encouraged to do so, especially when citing a long or complex publication, so that readers of your paper can easily look up the reference information.

Here are some specific examples:

For direct quotes, your citation should include author, date, AND page number:

According to Harold Leavitt, “Hierarchical organizations seduce us with psychological rewards like feelings of power and status” (2003, p. 102).

For paraphrased information, the page number is optional:

One of the appeals of hierarchies is the sense of power and status enjoyed by their members (Leavitt, 2003).

If the publication you are quoting does not have page numbers but has numbered paragraphs, the next best option is to give the paragraph number:

(Parkenfarker, 2005, ¶ 6)

If the document doesn’t have numbered paragraphs but contains headings, you can cite the heading of the section, and the number of the source paragraph within that section:

(Carver, 2002, Methods, ¶ 3)

If there are no page or paragraph numbers visible, and headings either are not available or would make your text confusing or unwieldy, you may omit the location reference:

(Jacobs & Jingleheimer-Smith, 1997)